The Holidays Act 2003 (“the Act”) prescribes a range of minimum statutory entitlements for leave and holidays in respect of employees in New Zealand. It is one of the most complex and high-risk pieces of workplace legislation for employers to manage, particularly in relation to annual leave calculations, how it interacts with payroll systems, and record-keeping requirements.

Non-compliance with the Act has resulted in widespread remediation programmes across both the public and private sectors, significant back-pay liabilities for employers, and increased scrutiny from Labour Inspectors, including more active audits, investigations, enforcement measures like infringement notices, improvement notices, penalties and compliance orders.